Freitag, 28. Januar 2011

Castles (English)


CASTLES

a castle(from latin castellum) is a defensive structure seen as one of the main symbols of the middle ages.
it was used as a deployment point for soldiers and to protect farmers and other people of the region. the owner of a castle was a noble family which stood under the command of the king. peasants served a noble or a knight, and they were allowed to live on his land and use it.

defensive features:
keep (burgfried):
most castles followed certain standards of desing and construction. the central feature of the castle was the keep, the main commanding tower. the keep was mostly used as a residence or for redoubt in times of trouble. The keep was often also attached to the walls. The keep was in the wall of the bailey (burghof).
curtain walls (ringmauer):
The curtain walls were a second fortrification outside the keep and the bailey. The wall was often supported by a walkway and other defensive structures.
gatehouse (torhaus):
the gates were a weak point in the defences of castles, so gatehouses could be strengthened with flanking towers, a turning or removable bridge, doors, and a heavy portcullis (fallgatter). many gatehouses had a second body. Archers in the second body could shoot down at their enemies while they were defenceless.
moat (burggraben):
moats were ditches, typically filled with water, which were dug around the perimeter of a castle to provide a preliminary defense. they were affective against siege engines, which needed to be brought against the castle wall to be effective. they also prevented mining, the practice of digging under fortrifications to bypass or destroy them.

the everyday live was very simple and it often followed the same patterns. in the morning, everybody goes to church, then they did activities like going to school (a very rarely possibility for nobler kids), training, cooking, …. in the evening the nobles had a big meal and then they went to bed. sometimes the had a change in their live pattern if a singer or an artists group came and amused them. sometimes they also arranged a joust (turnier). then many people from the region came to watch it, and also nobles of other kingdoms had a part in the joust.

a boy who wanted to be a knight was sent to a noble’s house as a page. he was thaught to fight and to behave properly.

1,5 min

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